Childern of The Wind
by Aeris3
Summary: It's kind of weird... Ranma's afraid of Thursdays. also a romance. A/U. Ah read it! Has blind ducks, evil forces, and MORE!
1. Prolouge: Thursdays

Children Of the Wind

Prologue: Thursdays

Aeris

Thump. Creak. Thump. Creak. Snap. Walk, slowly, not too fast, and slowly. Thump. Creak. Thump. Creak. Snap. It was late one Thursday night, nobody really understood Thursday's, she recalled. It wasn't cold nor warm it was just what it was. There was just what it was. 

            But to this day, every day it was a Thursday it reminded her of what happened a few months ago, on a Thursday. It was quite scary and she hadn't been able to shake the feeling that, in fact, something really, really bad was going to happen. Not just her, or his, normal every day bad. But really, really bad. 

             Maybe it was just Ranma's over active imagination. Maybe it wasn't. All he, or she at this moment in time, knew that it was very, very scary. Well, you'd be scared too if you had a dead girl tell you that 'The answer's in the shadows.' But what is the answer, more important what was the question. 

            Shit, he though as he stepped on a twig. Today was a Thursday and at night, making Ranma very scared. Hey, everyone has a fear, right? But if anyone ever knew that he was afraid of something so foolish as Thursdays- he'd-or she'd- never hear the end of it. There was just one though running through Ranma's mind right now, how'd I get myself into this?!

            Creak. Now he knew for sure he hated, no loathed, Thursdays. Most of the time bad things happen on Thursdays. Never on Mondays, Tuesdays, or Sundays for that matter yet occasionally on a Wednesday, Friday, or Saturday bad things happen. In fact Ranma was seriously debating if he was crazy or not for being afraid of Thursdays. Who was afraid of Thursdays?

            Ranma is. 

            Ryoga smiled in the dark as Ranma approached him. "Well, I see you made it, Ranma." Ryoga striated out his trademark bandanna. 

            "Ah, shut up Ryoga. Now why did you want me out here tonight?" Ranma said rolling his eyes. 

            Ryoga turned on his lamp and fixed it so you could clearly make out the woods that lay before them. "It was hard, you know, to get you out here tonight. I know you're still getting over Yuan's _death." _Ryoga paused. "I know it can be hard, when someone you know dies."

            Ranma sighed; she was so young, only ten years old but that wasn't why he was afraid of Thursdays. It was what happened after her death that made him afraid.  "Well, whatever. You still haven't told me why you want me out here." Ranma could feel Ryoga's shudder in the night. 

            "It's kind of hard to explain, or to understand for that matter." Ranma said nothing, Ryoga continued, "But you see it all makes sense in some sort of way."

            Ranma rubbed his head. "Ryoga. What are you talking about? Are you sure we're not lost, because normally- you are." 

            Ryoga pointed. "Look." Ranma looked and saw nothing. He gave Ryoga a look. "Look harder." 

            Ranma saw something. "What is that?" Ryoga said nothing, just stared. Ranma waited there, waiting for a response. 

            "Read it." Ryoga said and walked toward the large rock that sat next to the large decaying tree. The odd thing about the rock is that there where was no moss or any other sign of life. But in large leaders it read:

the wind

rules you

It look like who ever wrote that had odd handwriting, it was the kind of writing you would expect to see from a young child. It was different, but seemed to hold some sort of message. Whatever the message was Ranma didn't want to know what it was. His hand was shaking. 

"I got to get outta here." Ranma breathed suddenly feeling very, very worried. 

Ryoga shook his head, "No, we must go. Now." Ryoga was nervous too, Ranma could tell.

He nodded his head, "Yeah, yeah. That's what I was saying." 

Ryoga grabbed his shoulders. "No. You don't understand. We have to go there. We must go now. We cannot go home now." He turned his head. "Not now." He stopped. "Not again." He turned and walked a few feet and turned his head once more. "Ranma, this is important. We must go." Ranma took a step back. 

Ryoga smoothed out his yellow shirt. "Ranma, I'm asking you to come with me because I trust you to help me. I know you are the only person who will help me. But if I have too, I will go alone." 

 Ranma sighed, "Fine. I'll follow you. Where are we going, anyway?" He said reluctantly. Ryoga blinked. 

"We must stop them." 

"Who must we stop?" Ryoga pulled his sleeve and jumped. "Ry….ooooo…..gaaa!!!!!!!! AHH! What are you-!" 

~

I wrote this to cure my writer's block for my other story, _The Immortal_. And what do you know? It worked! I kind of liked this story so I decided to continue this. I plan to make it A/U, Ranma doesn't yet know Akane and Ryoga and him are friends- sort of.  He's still cursed, sadly enough. Okay I hope you liked this fic so far. Aeris. 


	2. Chapter I: Winds

Children of the Wind

Chapter I

Winds__

A/N: Okay… this fic is AU, so you know, there is no confusion. Okay, oh and I don't own Ranma 1/2, yatta, yatta, yatta. More rants at bottom.

The rocking chair creaked as it always did. The heat from the hearth filled the small room. The old woman frowned at the window. "Are they here yet?"  She called to the other room, as she always did. 

            Her granddaughter stepped out of the other room holding a small blade. "No," she paused before she went back to the other room. "Who is it you are looking for, grandmother?" She asked watching her grandmother rock back and forth in her old rocking chair staring out the window. 

            "Your hair," she said changing the subject, "is so short." She said without looking at her. 

            She shook her head. "You know it's illegal to have long hair when you are at our status." 

            "Yes, I suppose." She paused. "Why do you have that blade?" The grandmother asked, again changing the subject. 

            The girl sighed and ran her fingers across the small blade. "I was sharpening the katana…" The grandmother turned her head, but said nothing for a long while. 

            "That's not a safe thing to do." She warned. "You know how they feel about that sort of thing, Akane. It may be out past, but I will not be our future." She stopped, her eyes darkened. "Don't let anyone else see what you're doing." 

            Akane walked out of the room, thankful to get away from the hot fire. She picked up the katana and held it in front of her face for a long while. She frowned; this was the sword that her father had used when he was protecting the very country that now hated him. Hated their past, their culture. 

            She swung it in the air, feeling its power seep into her as she sliced the air open into oblivion. It was a feeling of strange calm and power flow into her soul, her very being. For a while she was one with the sword, her ancestors that had once used this sword before here for many generations seemed to be with her. It was an alien yet wonderful sense of life, of tranquility.

            Akane put down the katana and put it in the sack and slid it under the cabinet next to the door. Akane heard a knock on the door. 

            The old woman hummed to herself as she watched the fire crackle. The sky was filled with a purple color as it always was before the sun had fully set or the moon had risen. 

            "Grandmother." Akane yelled. "They're here." Her grandmother stood, the first time in many months without help and walked over to the door. 

Ranma stopped in mid-step as he stumbled over the old tree's roots as Ryoga led him across the empty forest. He sighed and followed his friend, hoping that he would not get lost. "Quack", said the duck that seemed intent on following them. "Shoo." Ranma said kicking at the duck. 

            "Shoo." He kicked him to the side. "It's bad enough I have to follow this nut to god knows where to do god knows what and the LAST thing I need is for some crazy duck to follow me." Ranma put his hand to his side and stared at him long and hard. The duck quacked and bumped into a tree. "Just what I need is a blind duck…" 

            "AY YAA!!!" Ranma's thought was interrupted by a girl who had jumped out from the tree. "You see duck?" Ranma raised his eyebrows then pointed to the duck. "Many thanks." Ranma opened his mouth to reply but didn't get to respond to the girl with the purple hair before she jumped back into the tree's holding the duck. 

            Ranma looked to the sky. "Flying girls, blind ducks and a directionally challenged boy, who just happens to be leading me on some crazy-!" Ranma stopped in mid-sentence. Ryoga and he had wandered out of the woods and came across a small house in the edge of the forest. "Oh boy." He said scratching his head. 

            Before Ranma could do anything Ryoga went up to the door and knocked. A girl with short bluish-blackish hair opened the door holding polish in her hand. "Grandmother." She yelled. "They're here."  

The sun was high in the sky, to symbolize midday. The grandmother noticed that as she stared profusely at Ryoga. "Kind of small." She said poking at him. "Not very muscular. No weapons. Humph. My dog could knock you down… Well if I had one." 

            Ryoga was burning red. "Listen here! I didn't ask to do this." He bent down and whispered to her something that Ranma nor Akane could hear. 

            Ranma was looking at Akane through his cup. He slowly placed the cup to his lips and gulped down the sweet tea. All of a sudden his head began to spin. He put his hand to t he side of the table trying to brace him from falling. 

The door was of solid metal, a keyhole shaped like two hearts was imbedded into it. A girl skipped over to him and cocked her sideways and looked at the boy on the floor. She poked him. He shot up rubbing his head. 

_      "Hey." He said narrowing his eyes. He stood up holing onto the side of the solid oak desk in the middle of the room. _

_      The girl stared at him. "Why are you here?" She asked moving toward him with a hint of laughter in her emotion full voice. _

_      "Me?" He blinked, not sure how to respond. "What? Where am I?" The young girl blinked at his response. _

_      "Why your with us! All of us!" She spun happily around the room landing in front of him. "We are with the winds!" She cocked her head side ways to look at him then laughed. _

_      He stood, held back. "What's so funny?" He asked, hands on hips. _

_      "You." She said. "You're old. No one that's old ever comes to see us. Never." She smiled and laughed covering her mouth. "We're happy, old people aren't happy. Just sad. We're happy! Always happy." _

_      "I'm not old. I'm only seventeen…"_

_      She laughed and skipped off into the fading walls of the fading room, "Like I said, old!" _

_      He spun around and found himself in a room that more resembled a cage. Another older looking girl, a year or so older then him grabbed onto the walls screaming. "Help me! Help me!" Her voice was loud as she banged on the walls. Her eyes where empty. _

_      She caught a look of him to the side. "You." She said, her eyes blank. "Help me." When he didn't respond she began to scream madly, her voice echoing into the air. She grabbed onto his pants. "Help me!" She screamed pounding the floor with one hand, other hand tugging at his pants. Her fingernails ripped into his pant leg. _

_      "Help me or, or they'll hurt me…" He reached down to help her but when he touched the ground he was no longer with her. _

_      The entire room was white, cold, the walls where ice. His hands froze before he even reached them. Another girl that looked to be twenty came out holding her head in her white hands. She looked up. The girl forced a smile on her face when she saw him appear. "Do not let them get you too." She said warningly, her eyes dark and sad. "They got me, don't them get you too." Her jaw was quivering. "If they get you, who will help us?" _

      He grabbed his head he was spinning again. 

Ranma woke up holding onto the table leg. He was panting and short on breath. The old woman sat in the rocking chair in the corner, with Ryoga sitting near her. Akane sat beside him holding a cold napkin over his head. 

      She saw his blink as he came too. "Are you okay?" She asked shaking her head, her face creased with deep worry. 

      He tried to speak, but no words came to his lips. He nodded his head in a weak answer. "What happened?" He whispered, barely able to speak. Ranma began to sit up but his muscles wouldn't move. 

      "Hold still. It was her poison that did it." Akane shook her head, meaning her grandmother. "She always does that. Always. Never to me, but to anyone she doesn't trust. Always." 

      Ranma sat up slowly leaning against the side of the chair for support. He blinked and looked to see rips in his pants that weren't there before…

A/N: Woo. That was an interesting chapter. I just wanted to explain about the world I set this in. It's kind of like Japan, but the people discriminate the people that came from that heritage. If you understand one word of what I'm saying- good. If you don't you'll catch on (me hopes.) Okay! Thankx for reading so far. I hope to have another chapter up this week. (SPRING BREAK!!!!!!!!!!) 


	3. Chapter II: Visions & Dreams

Children Of The Wind

Chapter II

Visions & Dreams

"Your back." The girl said to him. She sat down next to him, for he was lying on the floor. She poked him. 

            He stirred. "Hey!" He exclaimed rubbing the side where she had poked him. "Why do you people always do that?" The girl shrugged and opened up her hands. A key on a chain was produced. 

            "Take this." She put the key over his head. "I can't use this any longer. You can, you are our only hope. You can save. Only you can." He sat up and took the key in his palm. He blinked then remembered the girl from before. "The winds do not have you, if you are here and they don't have you that means you're the one." She paused. "Only you can save us now."

            Ranma looked at her, still not sure if he was really here. He looked down at his pant leg and saw the rips, they where real. So this place must be real too. "What do you mean, only I can save you- them?" He sat on his heals, so he would not freeze his whole body. 

            "You are only one that can be here, you are not taken by the winds, and they cannot take you. Yet." She stopped for a moment to think. "Others have tried but they have failed. They were either killed or they where taken by the winds… Be careful." 

            He stood up, "Okay." He said but it was too late, the girl was gone. He was taken to another room. This time the room was dark no light could be seen but he could still see clearly. There was a little boy sitting in the center of the room. 

            The boy looked up. "Whose there?" He asked, standing up, not able to see Ranma. "I know you're here- somewhere. Where are you? Show your self!" Ranma walked over to the boy and stopped. He wasn't sure what to say or do. He put his hand on the boys shoulder and he turned around. "Who are you?" 

            His eyes went wide. "You, you hole the key! Are you going to save us?" 

            "I'll try." He said. The room began to spin and he then found himself in a room of clouds. He saw a large solid metal door with a keyhole in it. Maybe if he put his key in it, it would open. Maybe it could lead him out of here- wherever here was. 

            A girl screamed. "STOP!" She yelled. "Don't open the door! Don't open that door!" She lunged at him falling at his feet. "Please don't."            He stepped back. The girl stood up and kicked him in the leg. "What are you stupid or something? Never open that door or else you'll, we'll…" 

            "Who are you anyway?" He asked.

            The girl looked around. "Us?" She asked. "We are the Children of The Wind."

            His head began to spin. 

"Ranma?" Ryoga said shaking him. "Wake up Ranma?" Ranma was shaking, sweating, and then all of a sudden he bolted up. "Are you okay Ranma?" He asked.

            Ranma nodded. "Yeah, yeah. I'm okay. I just had a weird dream." He said blinking, trying to piece together his dream. No matter how he though of it, it never seemed to fit together. 

            "Where'd you get that key Ranma?" Ryoga asked rolling up his mat that he slept on. 

            Ranma looked down and saw that the chain with the key was still on his neck. "Ryoga." Ranma said fingering the key. "Why are we here?" 

            Ryoga tied the last string on the sleeping mat and put it in the corner. "When your done rolling up yours go into the other room for breakfast." He said and walked out of the room. 

            Ranma quickly tied the sleeping mat in a roll and went into the other room. He joined the three at the table they where in a conversation about the side effects of the over use of new manual inventions. When he sat down the conversation stopped. The grandmother slowly sipped her tea watching as Ranma every more intently. Her eyes never left him when she put down her cup.

            "Why are you here boy?" She asked breaking the long silence. 

            Ranma blinked. "I'm here because he dragged m-"

            The old woman cut him off. "No. Just because he took you means nothing." She paused. "You have a quest, as does he, and she, and you, my boy, are here to do that very thing you dream of. The very thing your heart thrives for." She put her hand into a fist and shook it before his face. "You must make your self and give yourself a reason to do what you must do." 

            The woman's words where strange and alien to Ranma, the woman spoke with such passion that it made Ranma want to believe here. But yet, Ranma still didn't fully believe any of them, yet, not even Ryoga whom he had befriended many years ago. This place and people are strange and new to him, especially his reoccurring dreams. Whatever they meant, Ranma wasn't so sure that he wanted to know anymore. 

            The old woman stared at him, expecting no response from him. Ryoga looked at the old woman, slightly ashamed that he had caused all, well mostly all, of this to happen. Akane just rolled her eyes having heard this a thousand time. Destiny and fate, past and future, magic and reality where all points of lecture from the wise old woman. Though Akane would never admit it, sometimes, like now, her grandmother made a lot of sense. And that just drove Akane crazy. 

That night Ranma watched the sun fall into the sky and waited until the moon had fully risen. He had been warned about the dangers of this place, the feared night that held a million secrets. Ranma had a secret of his own he wasn't willing to share, he was afraid of sleeping now. The dreams that he had scared him to the bone, he could remember them so vividly that sometimes it felt like reality to him. 

            He watched as Akane was inside washing the dishes while the old sorceress watched his every move and Ryoga just stayed to himself. Being here for a full day, doing a full days work of chores and such made him miss his home. But the sad thing was, he didn't have much of a home to miss. His family was destructive, his mother constantly questioning his manhood, his mad father never a man to begin with and no one ever gave Ranma a chance to just be Ranma. 

            Ranma had meat Ryoga many years ago when they went to school. Ryoga had and always will be directionally challenged so Ranma helped him find his way around. Then he went to China with his father and was cursed to forever be a girl with a splash of cold water. Ryoga followed him, purely on accident because he through that Ranma was taking him to school and he followed him and his father to China where he was too cursed to become a pig with a splash of cold water. There was some tangled lines between the two but nonetheless they where and are still friends. But now, Ranma questions the deepness of the friendship. 

            Well, Ranma thought sadly, I might as well go to sleep. I only hope those dreams have stopped. He walked into the house, and then into the room he and Ryoga shared then lay down and went to sleep. 

A rock hit his face. He woke up blinking. "Great." He mumbled to himself. "I'm back here." He was in the room with the ice again and saw the same girl heading toward him. 

            She shook her head sadly. "I though by now you'd understand." She sighed. "Some are harder to break then others. 

            "What? Why am I still having this dream?" He demanded as he arose. 

            The girl looked at him long and hard. "You still think this is just a dream!? Foolish boy! This in no dream! You are the chosen one! The chosen one of all the ages! You are our last hope, our hope to be free!" She struck him on the face. " Why must you be so hard, why?" 

            Ranma held his cheek where she had struck him. "Look, I don't need this in my dreams…" Something occurred to him. "That hurt. So this, this can't be a dream." 

            The girl looked at him, her brown eyes large and looking at him. "Please." She pleaded. "My people, these people. Help us. Set us free. You have the key! You have the power now leave; you must leave and come here willingly. I don't think I can pull you here anymore. The answer is in the key. Use it." The girl began to fade and Ranma saw nothing but blackness of the night. 

Then he arose. 

~

I seem to like this story so far, and I hope you nice reviewers do too! I wanted to get this up sooner but I had to fix some of my chapters in my fic the immortal. So it took me kind of long to her this chapter up. Please review!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


	4. Chapter III: In The Wind Lies The Answer

Children of The Wind 

_Chapter III_

_In The Wind Lies The Answer_

Quiet as a mouse Ranma walked out the door of this room holding a sword. He glanced both ways, making sure he was alone. Good, he though when no one was seen. He saw that old rocking chair creaking by itself when he walked by; it sent a chill up his spine. Slowly he crept outside holing the key in the palm of his hand. Gripping it so hard he though that it might disappear into his hand, he checked to make sure he was alone. He saw no one once again. 

            The key fell out of his hand and onto the ground. Ranma bent down to pick it up and saw a pattern on the ground under a layer of dirt. The pattern in a stone was glowing a weak strange white light. Ranma brushed off the dirt to get a closer look at the pattern. It was based off of a circle and had symbols embedded in the inner circle. In the middle there was a hole. He picked up the key; the pattern stopped glowing so he placed the key in the hole in the middle circle. 

            The symbols in pattern stared reacting with a more violet light when the key was placed in the center. Out of curiosity he ran his fingers over the symbols and with the touch of his fingers it stared glowing a stronger purple light. Then for a second the glowing stopped completely. Ranma looked at it closer and then all of a sudden a ray of light shot out of the ground and pulled him toward the pattern. 

            No one inside heard his scream except for the old sorceress who had materialized in the old rocking chair a moment earlier. She frowned a frown so deep it might as well stuck there. She pounded her fist against the arm of the rocking chair. The old sorceress sipped her tea that always seemed to be there. "Akane." She called. 

Akane was in her room sitting up on her mat she used as a bed. She glanced outside, it couldn't be more then midnight. Then out of nowhere she saw a ray of light shout out of the ground. She looked at outside, puzzled, she saw nothing. 

            "Akane." She heard her grandmother call. 

            Akane got up and brushed her hands through her short hair. "Coming Grandmother." She called back and got up. Akane saw her grandmother hobbling over to the table to light the candle. 

            "Wake Ryoga for me." She said waving her hand to Akane. "And get our coats." 

            As the sound of his name was an instinct for him to come, Ryoga walked out of the hall and into the main room just as Akane turned to get him up. "No need to wake me, that light could wake anyone, it was so bright." 

            Akane went to the closet and gabbed the coats and handed her grandmothers to her. "Are we going somewhere?" 

            "We can't just leave Ranma here." Ryoga said, not sure what was going on. 

            The old woman narrowed her eyes at them and said nothing at first. "That boy is no longer our concern. Yes we are going somewhere, where it is you don't need to know. Ryoga you can stay if you like, but I know you'll want to come. This is, the turning point you know and I'm sure you want to get her back so let's go." She warped her cloak around her shoulders. "Akane get the katana, Ryoga get what ever weapon you have we have no time to waste here."

            Soon they where off Ryoga holding his umbrella, Akane with the katana in it's sheath and the old sorceress leading the way. Ryoga stayed between the two so he wouldn't get lost, he was sick of getting lost and this wasn't the time to. They wandered through the woods for a long while. 

            About two hour later they reached a camp of people whom where singing and dancing next to the fire. The old sorceress told them to wait here and she wandered off. A lady with long jet-black hair approached the old sorceress and frowned at her. 

            The woman looked at her shaking her head. "You promised to leave us. We have helped you once. Leave us!" The woman's voice held a tone of anger, fear, and authority all at once. 

            "I am not here for you. I am here to for the girl." She told her in the tone of voice that told she was serious.  

            The woman's face had a look of panic on it. "Fine. Take her, take the dammed child. She is more hassle for us then good. Take the dammed child you old hag." 

            "She is no long a child, she isn't one of you either. She never belonged to you nor will she ever." She told the woman before walking to the large tent at the edge of the people's land. A gold serpent was sewed into the top of the tent, the mark that who lived there had the gift. 

            A teenage girl with purple hair sat there, her back to the old sorceress. She ran her hands over rocks as she hummed to herself. Her eyes where closed and every once and a while she would switch the rocks. A boy stood next to her holing a spear and had long black hair. 

            "What is your business with us?" His tone was strong but sounded funny with his higher tone voice. 

            The old sorceress rolled her eyes. "Good evening Mouse." She said brushing out her cloak. Mouse put down his spear and narrowed his eyes at her. "I am here for Shampoo, not you." 

            "Fine." He said not wanting to fight her. Shampoo sat stood and tuned to face her. 

            Shampoo already knew why she was here. "It is time." She said not needing an answer, nor expecting one. Shampoo had on a red dress at had a gold serpent on the back and was collared. There was a long slit up the sides but the dress reached her ankles. "It is time." She repeated. 

            She walked outside, her hands clenched into fists. Mouse was at her toe and the old sorceress behind them. The woman from earlier clenched her spar and glanced at them. The music and dancing had stopped and all eyes where on Shampoo, whose head was high and shown no expression. Before she reached where Akane and Ryoga stood she turned and placed her fist to her heart, showing her loyalty to their tribe. The people mimicked her putting their fist to their chest. All except for the woman who had driven her spar into the ground, a sign of an honor less defeat.

            When Akane saw Shampoo she said nothing, but she knew too that it was time. Soon the all fell into step, no one saying anything until they reached mid forest. 

Ranma stood in the center of a room, he didn't know where exactly he was but he knew that he was somewhere important. He hung his key over his neck again and pulled out the sword from the sheath. He gripped onto it for dear life. Something big was going to happen, he didn't know what yet, but it was going to be something big. 

            "_OPEN THE GATES!" _A voice said screaming in the room, Ranma turned around. No one was there. "_OPEN THE GATES, OPEN THE GATES, OPEN THE GATES!" _A blue light filled the room…

Shampoo held out the stone. It was rather large and had the same glowing pattern on it that Ranma had come across earlier. A key was placed in it, a black key. Shampoo was turning a blue color and had her eyes was shut closed. "_OPEN THE GATES! OPEN THE GATES, OPEN THE GATES, OPEN THE GATES! Open the gates of and space, tare down the veil of time, open the gates!" _ Her knuckles bleed from gripping onto the stone. 

            She chanted the same thing over and over again. Ryoga and Akane stood ready to go, the old sorceress stood there. "Akane when the gate opens you and Shampoo may only pass. Unless you have the right key, only virgin females may pass into the gateway. You must do this, the fate of the world is in your hands, and you must kill Ranma." 

            Akane looked at her through the blue that had begin to glow all over. "Why?"

            "Because he is the enemy."

 End of chapter three! Hahaha! I have to go, evil Algebra homework…. Bah!     


End file.
